Adherence to Antihypertensive Treatment and Associated Factors in Central Ethiopia

Abstract

Background. Adherence to treatment is a primary determinant of treatment success. Nonadherence attenuates clinical benefits to the recipients of the treatment. However, monitoring adherence to long treatment regimens is not given due emphasis in low-income contexts. This study aimed to assess adherence to antihypertensive treatment and factors associated with it in Central Ethiopia. Method. This is an institution-based cross-sectional study conducted in 4 public hospitals in Central Ethiopia from December 4, 2016, to September 25, 2017. The Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) was used to assess the level of adherence. The Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) was used to assess illness perception. The MMAS-8 score ranges from 0 to 8, a score of 8 reflects high adherence, 6 to 7 medium adherence, and <6 low adherence. Results. A total of 989 hypertensive patients participated in the study, of which 36.0% were assessed to have high adherence, 31.7% medium adherence, and 32.3% low adherence. We found that treatment adherence was significantly and positively associated with having family support (AOR: 1.65; 95% CI = 1.23, 2.22), high perception about consequences of hypertension (AOR: 1.51; 95% CI = 1.17, 1.95), and high perception about the severity of the disease (AOR: 1.42; 95% CI = 1.09, 1.86). Conclusion. The treatment adherence to antihypertensive medications is low in Central Ethiopia. Engaging family members in the treatment plan and improving patients’ understanding of the illness are critical in achieving high adherence to medication in this context.

The association between social support and medication adherence in patients with hypertension: A systematic review

“…Fourteen studies evaluated the impact of social support on medication adherence; ten cross-sectional studies and four interventional studies. 8,10,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] The cross-sectional studies included in this study used different scales and questionnaires to measure social support as shown in Table 3, while in the interventional studies, family members, friends or pharmacists were designated as supervisors of hypertensive patients. Family members or friends educated patients about the illness and medications, reminded them Figure 1.…”

A Qualitative Study on Barriers to Treatment and Control of Hypertension Among Patients at Dessie Referral Hospital, Northeast Ethiopia, Ethiopia: Healthcare Workers’ Perspective

“…4 Moreover, inadequate treatment and poor adherence lead to long-term complications such as stroke, health failure, and chronic kidney disease, 9 , 10 and hospitalization. 11 …”

Is the Association between Herbal Use and Blood-Pressure Control Mediated by Medication Adherence? A Cross-Sectional Study in Primary Care

“…Not surprisingly, compared to research from other countries, we found the similar proportion of high medication adherence in our population. Although most studies used different tools to assess medication adherence, studies in Asian countries also reported a similar trend [11,[26][27][28][29]. For example, a study in a public primary care clinic in Singapore using the Medication Adherence Report Scale-5 (MARS-5) reported that about 55% of the participants had high medication adherence [28].…”

“…For example, a study in a public primary care clinic in Singapore using the Medication Adherence Report Scale-5 (MARS-5) reported that about 55% of the participants had high medication adherence [ 28 ]. A study in Malaysia using the seven-item validated survey form for medication adherence reported that around 53% had good adherence [ 29 ].…”